Forwarding to developer list for wider discussion.
Cheers,
Andrew
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: supported operating systems for traffic server
Date: Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:57:07 -0800
From: Andrew Hsu <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected],
[email protected]
Organization: Yahoo! Inc.
To: [email protected]
Should we consider stating an ordered list of supported operating
systems for traffic server?
I've been reading up on currently supported OSes now that more people
are asking about different versions of older OS support on our mailing
lists. I've created a list of some of the most significant ones and
what direction they are headed in.
Plus, there are other considerations to take into account besides
supporting end-user community that I have listed below.
Questions for discussion at the bottom of the email.
~~~
Ubuntu currently has 5 supported releases:
* 6.06 Dapper Drake (LTS) expires in 2011
* 8.04 Hardy Heron (LTS) expires in 2013
* 8.10 Intrepid Ibex expires in early 2010
* 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope expires in late 2010
* 9.10 Karmic Koala expiers in early 2011
And an upcoming 10.04 Lucid Lynx (LTS) will be released in early 2010
which will expire past 2015.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ubuntu_releases#Version_timeline
Looks like Ubuntu will have at most 5 supported releases out at any
point but may drop to 4.
Ubuntu 8.10 (AMD64) is used on the ASF hudson build boxes, so it would
be advantageous to support that OS for continuous integration purposes.
Ubuntu also looks to be the most popular Linux distro out there
(according to distrowatch.com). So, it may satisfy most of our traffic
server user community to heavily support Ubuntu.
~~~
Fedora currently has 2 supported releases:
* Fedora 10 Cambridge expires in late 2009
* Fedora 11 Leonidas expires in mid 2010
Upcoming Fedora 12 Constantine will be released in a week and expire in
late 2010.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_%28operating_system%29#Version_history
Looks like Fedora will have at most 3 supported releases out at any
point but no less than 2. Their support duration is relatively short
compared to their release frequency. Plus, they don't have LTS which
helps keep the number down.
Fedora is the closest OS to RHEL that is avail for free. Supporting
Fedora will likely take care of a lot of RHEL support issues.
Fedora is the 2nd most popular Linux distro (according to distrowatch.com).
~~~
RHEL has a layered support:
* Production 1 - full support (new features with minor releases)
* Production 2 - deployment (no planned new features)
* Production 3 - maintenance (only critical security fixes)
And of those support layers, RedHat supports 3 releases right now:
* RHEL 3 (Production 3) finishes Production 3 in late 2010
* RHEL 4 (Production 2) will enter Production 3 in late 2009
* RHEL 5 (Production 1) will enter Production 2 in early 2011
Reference: http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/errata/
Yahoo is a heavy user of RHEL so support is necessary to maintain the
status quo.
FYI:
* RHEL 4 is derived from Fedora Core 3
* RHEL 5 is derived from Fedora Core 6
* RHEL 6 will be derived from upcoming Fedora 12
~~~
Solaris has 3 supported releases:
* Solaris 8 (SunOS 5.8) end of life in early 2012
* Solaris 9 (SunOS 5.9) end of life in late 2014
* Solaris 10 (SunOS 5.10) end of life unknown
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_%28operating_system%29#Version_history
ASF also has support for Solaris 10 for hudson automated builds.
ASF uses Solaris for front-end boxes. It would be fabulous if traffic
server could run in the front. :)
~~~
MacOS X:
I couldn't find solid literature about what is actively supported. I've
read on some unofficial mailing lists that Apple actively supports
latest 2 versions:
* 10.6 Snow Leopard released late 2009
* 10.5 Leopard released late 2007
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOSX#Versions
Supporting this OS would make coding on the laptop easier for many of
the developers.
~~~
There can be more OSes added to the list like Windows, FreeBSD, etc but
I don't have all day to research everything.
Would we want to take the strategy of supporting only the most recent
versions?
Would we want to only support the versions currently supported by the
vendors?
Where do we draw the line? Would it be sensible to state on a cwiki
"file a jira but here is a priority list we will address"?
Is it too soon to state a direction? Should we wait for more adoption
and take a public poll?
Other people's thoughts?
I have my opinion, but it is selfishly what works best for me:
1 RHEL 4 - needed for work
2 Ubuntu 8.10 (AMD64) - for automated builds
3 MacOS 10.6 - so I can develop on my laptop (save huge amounts of time)
I wasn't sure if trafficserver-private was the best mailing list for
this email--feel free to forward on. Or I can turn this material into a
cwiki--just let me know.
Cheers,
Andrew
